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China weighs opening market to foreign stocks

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-06 13:45

BEIJING: China's main stock exchange plans to launch an international board next year that would allow foreign companies to sell shares denominated in Chinese currency for the first time, a news report said.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange is working on the board as part of efforts to promote the city as a regional financial center, the newspaper Shanghai Daily said, citing a Shanghai deputy mayor.

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"The board is expected to be launched next year," the deputy mayor, Tu Guangshao, said in comments published Wednesday.

A listing on a Chinese stock exchange could help foreign companies by allowing them to tap China's huge pool of savings and by raising their public profile.

China keeps its financial markets isolated from global capital flows and foreign companies are not allowed to trade on its two stock exchanges. Regulators have yet to issue rules on how foreign companies might be allowed to gain a place in its exchanges.

Shanghai is the world's best-performing stock market this year, with its benchmark index up nearly 90 percent.

British bank HSBC has said it hopes to be among the first foreign companies allowed to sell shares in China and has hired advisers to pursue a listing.